Stick to your plans, dentists urge government

on 5 April 2011

The British Dental Association (BDA) has today urged the Department of Health not to abandon their plans for dentistry to be commissioned by a new national board.

The call follows the House of Commons’ Health Select Committee’s suggestion that responsibility for commissioning should instead be moved to new NHS local commissioning authorities.

John Milne, chair of the BDA’s general dental practice committee, said: ‘Local commissioning of dentistry by primary care trusts has not been a huge success. Although some PCTs have done a very good job of providing dental care for their populations, too many have not.

‘We have seen an erratic approach across the country that has created problems for dentists and patients alike.

‘We have a real opportunity to introduce some consistency into the commissioning of dentistry. It’s true that there is a lack of detail about how some of the connectivity between national and local health organisations would work in the new structure, but the answer is to fill in that detail, not abandon this plan completely. We urge government to think very carefully.’